I am wicked cheap!

I learned about the CVS Extra Bucks program about a year ago and let me tell you, it is fantastic.  I have gotten TONS of FREE products including: deodorant, shampoo, conditioner, razors, toothbrushes, toothpaste, mouthwash, and more.  And I am not talking about CVS brand products either, but name brands like Pantene, Olay, Crest, Venus, etc.

The first thing you need to do to become  a savvy CVS shopper is to get yourself a CVS Extra Care card and a giftcard with $20 on it (I will tell you why you need that later).

In order to shop at CVS properly, it is essential that you get the Sunday paper and save their ad.  You will want to take it to the store with you to make sure you are grabbing the correct products, as sometimes CVS does not label the sale items in the store.

Sit down with a cup of coffee and your CVS ad. As you are flipping through it, you will see some items listed as $1 after Extra Bucks, or Free after Extra Bucks. Circle those (if they are products you could use) and then check both your coupon stash and the coupons from Sundays paper to see if you have any coupons for those items.  

Now, let us say your ad says “Secret deodorant on sale for $2, buy one and receive $2 in Extra Bucks, FREE after Extra Bucks”.  That is great, but what the heck does that mean?

When you buy the deodorant, you will have to pay $2 for it at the register (so, it is not FREE right away).  When the cashier hands your your receipt you will see a coupon at the bottom that says “$2 EXTRA BUCKS”. Save this coupon and the next time you make a purchase at the store, you hand it to the cashier to take $2 off the balance owed. 

Now here is the good part, let us say that when you were checking your stash you saw that you have a coupon for $1 off of 1 Secret deodorant.  Give that to the cashier when you buy the deodorant, and you only have to pay $1 at the register…but you still get the $2 EB which means you are making a dollar by picking up that item.

The great thing about EBs is that they are good for about a month so you do not have to worry about using them right away.

NOW, WHY DO I NEED A GIFTCARD?

Oftentimes, CVS will have 4 or 5 really good EB deals in one week.  And if you are like me, you do not want to spend $30 out of pocket and leave the store with $25 in EBs. So…go ahead and make multiple trips to the register in one visit to the store.  Buy a couple of the EB products, then go back through the store and pick up the others.  Rip the EBs you just got off the bottom of your receipt and hand them to the cashier to help pay for your second trip to the register. Do not worry, the cashiers are used to this and they are really nice about you coming back 2 or 3 times.  Once you get savvy with your coupons and EBs you will find that you are only spending $1 or $2 at the register, so it is way easier to hand the cashier a giftcard rather than dig through your purse for change every time you go up to buy something.

This is a very long, and probably overwhelming post, but I have simplified my process as much as I could. Once you get to the store you will understand what I am talking about.

Good luck, CVS has some great deals this week.  If you missed them, check the categories tab on the side of this page and click on CVS: Weekly Deals.

Feel free to post any questions you may have and click here to see an entire list of my coupon lingo!